The dust at this busy recycling plant is pervasive and the steady noise of hoppers and conveyor belts makes this a challenging environment to work in. The facility in Rainham, east London is owned by Sharp Group, a family-run skip and waste management firm.

这家繁忙回收厂里灰尘弥漫，加上料斗和传送带持续不断的轰鸣声，让这里成了一个工作环境颇具挑战的场所。位于伦敦东部雷纳姆的这家工厂隶属于夏普集团，这是一家家族经营的废料清运与垃圾管理企业。

This is a hazardous industry. While Sharp Group is proud of its safety record, work-related injury and ill-health in the sector is 45% higher than other industries. These factors, along with the unpleasant nature of the work, mean keeping workers is difficult. Annual staff turnover runs at 40%.

垃圾回收是一个危险的行业。尽管夏普集团对其安全记录颇为自豪，但该行业因工受伤和职业健康问题的发生率仍比其他行业高出 45%。这些因素，再加上工作性质令人不悦，导致留住员工十分困难。该公司的年度员工流失率高达 40%。

A potential answer to that high staff turnover, was also on the line. A robot, known as Alpha (Automated Litter Processing Humanoid Assistant) was being trained to pick through the rubbish.

而在生产线上，一种应对高员工流失率的潜在解决方案也已经出现。一台名为 Alpha（自动垃圾处理人形助手）的机器人，正在接受训练，以完成垃圾分拣。

Built by RealMan Robotics in China, it's being adapted for real-world recycling operations by the British firm TeknTrash Robotics. Automated robots are not new to the sector, but the use of a humanoid is unusual.

Alpha 由中国公司睿尔曼智能科技公司研发，英国泰克特拉什机器人公司正对其进行适配改造，使其能应用于现实中的垃圾回收作业。自动化机器人在这一行业并不新鲜，但使用人形机器人却较为少见。

Alpha is not up to speed yet, instead, it's on a training agenda and being guided through arm movements. The learning process is two-fold. The first is identifying what's on the conveyor and the second part is actually lifting up items.

目前 Alpha 尚未达到正式作业速度，仍处于训练阶段，其机械臂动作正在接受引导学习。其学习过程分为两个部分：第一步是识别传送带上的物品，第二步则是真正将物品抓取起来。

AI is part of the process, as it constantly improves the way the system identifies and sorts materials. California challenger Glacier was co-founded by Rebecca Hu-Thrams. Her company's system uses mounted robotic arms and AI to sort through rubbish.

人工智能也是这一流程的重要组成部分，它不断优化系统识别和分拣材料的方式。来自加州的新兴企业格拉希尔由丽贝卡·胡-特拉姆斯联合创立，其公司的系统同样利用固定式机械臂和人工智能对垃圾进行分拣。

As Prof Marian Chertow of Yale University puts it: "Robotics coupled with AI-driven vision systems offers the greatest potential for improving material recovery, worker experience, and economic competitiveness in the recycling sector."

正如耶鲁大学教授玛丽安·切尔托所说：“机器人技术与 AI 驱动的视觉系统相结合，在提升材料回收效率、改善工人工作体验以及增强回收行业经济竞争力方面，具有最大潜力。”